A Cog In The Fight
by drinking-alone
Summary: A fortnight after Jacinto fall, old memories resurfaces in the flesh.


Two weeks had passed since Jacinto was sunk into the earth, the locust queen was thought to be dead and for a while the COG could relax. New Jacinto was already in its second phase, many homes already full and more people leaving the refuge tents. They'd pulled back, deeper into the mountains, the protection from weather storms held no difference only perhaps that they came more frequently.

Rain plummeted down as Delta squad made their final round in the last area of tents. Marcus held his lancer with one hand while using the other as a visor. He stared up at the sky a bit farther down the peak; attempting to search for coming razor hail. Cold rain pelted at him; slowly rolling down his face. It crawled down his cheeks and finally left; dripping away from his chin. The leader of Delta squad could feel the moisture seeping down underneath his armour but he ignored the cooling affect.

Cole pushed up from a hatch in their centaur with his arm not even shaking under the weight of the door he spoke,

"Marcus," His strong voice was calm, "it's time to go."

"Delta," Marcus's voice was husky, "shift's over, it's time to clock out," He returned his hand to his lancer before carrying on into the centaur.

He sat next to Dom; the once semi-vibrate teammate remained quiet and corpselike. Dominic's eyes had grown lifeless and yet there was a glimpse of something but only just. Marcus had seen the light in the eyes of most gears fade, but never as much as it had in Dom's. He was running on autopilot most days now; so quickly in a fortnight had the decay of Dom begun. Marcus saw it all, and it digressed to nothing like water on fire.

Baird checked his lancer and counted the bullets that had not left their places since Jacinto's fall. There was an unspoken tension between the friends; they knew something was coming even if they were meant to think the locust had been wiped out. It made them uneasy, it made them hungry and yet they sat everyday in a centaur doing rounds. Did they really miss the action of the front? Dom did, he needed something to fight against. The death of his family, the deaths of so many were on Locust hands. The others just felt useless; checking on civilians was not something they had in mind when defeating the grubs.

"Coletrain? We there yet?" Baird's voice held no sarcasm; he'd stopped jesting once the enemy was conquered.

There wasn't any point at laughing death in the face when death himself had left. And that was just it, death; the fact that death had been right there and was gone now. Vanished along with the lambent Brumak and the entire Locust Horde. Delta squad didn't feel safe but they didn't feel like they were in danger either. The middle ground was a shaky ground; and the members of Marcus's team didn't like it.

The centaur took a familiar bump at control's front gates; and shook quickly before Cole brought the massive tank to a halt. The shifting of the metal creaked against them and then stood still. Baird stood from his seat and glanced over a Dom, his dark eyes starring ahead. He then followed after Cole up the short latter and out the hatch.

"Dom," Marcus's rough voice echoed throughout the walls of the tank, "It's time to go home."

"Home," Dom's voice echoed, "I'll never have one of those again."

The hard rain could be heard from outside and it wasn't as quiet as it had once been. Marcus placed his hand on Dom's shoulders; he was never good at the sentimental aspects of life.

"I've never had one, come on," He attempted his voice in a softer tone, but it didn't come.

Dom stood and walked dead weighted over to the latter, he climbed out and Marcus followed. Outside the rain had not let up, it pounded at the earth wherever it lay uncovered. Mud was being buried by more mud and water. The Control compound was busy none the less; people were coming in from patrol. Other tanks drove past as Marcus began to move towards Baird and the others for report. Out from the hammering rain and the cold whispering air came a sharp voice, one Marcus had not heard in almost 7 months.

"Fenix," the voice broke the air quickly and bounced out from the shadows of the catwalk above.

"Clementine?" Marcus's voice held no question in its tone.

Baird and Cole exchanged looks; even Dom glanced at the boys. Who was Clementine and how did she know Marcus? The mysterious woman came into the dim lighting of the compound and kept a firm clutch on the railing. She descended the stairs carefully as if she was carrying something. Her face did not look rough but she carried two scars over her naturally pouted lips. Clementine had obviously seen action, but how long ago now had washed away in time. Marcus held his breath at the sight of her; perhaps he had thought her gone for good; disappeared like the next morning he'd woken up. Once she came closer, Marcus felt his lungs fill with air again.

"Fenix," the same voice which had kaput the air came out, "Just a moment of your time."

He followed her away from the others in a quiet secluded corner, the noise of the compound running its course as background. Marcus looked down, he noticed her swollen belly.

"Clementine?" his rough voice grew in question.

"Oh, they told me that would go away in a small amount of time," Clementine's voice fell as she spoke, it cracked into a whimper; she placed her hand on the belly for support, "I lost it a few weeks ago."

Marcus reached out but quickly stopped himself; he glanced up into Clementine's eyes. Her bottom lip was pulled into her mouth and her eyes welled up in tears that fought to break from her lids. She tried to say something else but it didn't come out, she hastily wiped an escaped tear from her cheek.

"I j-just wanted to tell you," Her voice was so raw as she fought against the pain, "I don't want anything from you, I ju--," she stopped and looked down. Clementine placed a hand over her eyes; pinching the bridge of her noise and pushing out simultaneously to wipe more runaway tears, "I just wanted to tell you," she took in a large breath, "I just wanted you to know you would have been a father."

Marcus's expression changed, he shifted his weight bringing his foot forward. His arms began to rise but Clementine stopped him,

"Fenix, I told you I don't want anything from you."

"Clementine."

"You got a facade to keep up, a personality--."

"Clementine," Marcus interrupted.

"Can't you say anything else than my name?" She tried to tease, but the pain in her voice had resurfaced, "Look," She motioned towards the curious Delta squad, "Tell them what happened and I'll disappear just like last time."

At that moment the already torrential downpour became worse.

"I want to talk later," Marcus managed his voice husky and raw.

He caught Clementine's arm and looked away from Delta to her. Her pale blue orbs glowed; he'd missed her in his own way. He knew she'd missed him too.

"Alright," she agreed, "I'll meet you at your place, and don't ask how I know that."


End file.
